Best pet store

Editorís Note: You chose the Best of the Best. The Daily Tribuneís annual Readerís Choice contest filled our offices with opinions galore on your favorite everything in and around southeast Oakland County. In a month-long time frame, readers shared their responses to The Daily Tribuneís questionnaire ballot, posted online and published several times in previous issues. Several categories were covered, from food and drink to services, your best places to buy great stuff and more.

Below is one of the many success stories chosen from the final list of winners. For the full listing of winners in each category click on SPECIAL SECTIONS at www.dailytribune.com Special Sections.

Thereís a reason customers chose Valís Pet Supplies as the winner of this yearís Best of the Best Readerís Choice Award for Best Pet Store. It has been a favorite spot for area pet owners and local bird watchers for nearly 30 years.

Val Robbins opened her first store in Rochester Hills in 1984. She and general manager Jack Robbins relocated the store to Troy in 2000, and a second Clawson store was added.

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The stores are a popular place for pet owners to pick up food and other supplies. They sell all the major brands of cat and dog food a shopper would find at their mass-market retailer, as well as some of the more premium brands such as Science Diet, Nutro Max and many others. They sell pet carriers and toys, cat litter and leashes, fish food and aquariums, cages for reptiles and hamsters, and much more. Pretty much anything a pet owner would need, Valís has stocked on its shelves.

Also a favorite of Valís customers is the ďDoggy Deli.ĒďThatís been a big hit,Ē Jack Robbins said. Customers love picking up some biscuits or rawhide snacks for their pooches to crunch on.Ē

Besides the basics and the not-so-basic essentials, they also are known for their wild bird seed, which is mixed regularly.

Anyone wishing to lure more of a certain type of bird to their yard couldnít find a better brain to pick than Jack Robbinsí, or for that matter, any of the staff at Valís.

ďWeíre known for our wild bird seed, which is blended for us and sent weekly to our stores,Ē Jack Robbins said.

Itís sold at a better price than some generic blends, and itís customized to appeal to Michigan birds.

They also sell individual seeds -- sunflower, thistle and many other types.

ďIf you want to draw a certain species of bird,Ē Jack Robbins said, ďif you want to see more cardinals, for example, just ask. Weíll guide you.Ē

Naturally, they also sell bird feeders, including for hummingbirds. Now that spring has sprung, itís a good time to restock, too, as birds are flocking back to Michigan for the warmer months.

For the sake of its customers and the community for which it does business, Valís offers regular in-store specials and coupon deals, and can be counted on to support the troops. Thatís why the staff wear red every Friday.

Valís Pet Supplies has two locations: 4 S. Rochester Road, Clawson; 6975 Livernois, Troy. For more information, contact the Clawson store at 248-588-2177 or the Troy store at 248-813-8961.